GOA
Goa: At Rs 83.25 crore, May GST collections remain subdued
The easing of the lockdown restrictions and resumption of economic activity provided some lift to Goa’s tax earnings, but provided little comfort for chief minister Pramod Sawant’s government, which faces a severe fund crunch.
In May, Goa collected Rs 83.25 crore as GST against the Rs 32 crore earned in April. The tourism dependent state continues to face a revenue slump with commercial tax collections dropping by 53% and GST collections seeing a 55% drop year-on-year for May.
The SGST collected amounted to Rs 52.64 crore while IGST was to the tune of Rs 30.6 crore, indicating a 77% deficit in GST collections for May in comparison to the VAT regime.
There was a 90% drop in tax mop-up due to the lockdown in April forcing the state government to stagger payments, defer maintenance grants for aided schools and delay payments to contractors, temporary workers and other non-essential disbursements.
For March, when the lockdown was imposed, GST collections witnessed a 19% drop at Rs 316 crore against Rs 389 crore compared a year ago.
INTERNATIONAL
NASA unveils plan to setup ‘Artemis’, the first human base camp on Moon’s south pole by 2024
NASA is working on the Artemis program that aims to land humans on the moon by 2024.
The space agency has put forward a plan showing what a US lunar presence may look like after the milestone.
NASA submitted a 13-page report to the National Space Council on 2 April.
NASA unveils plan to setup Artemis, the first human base camp on Moon’s south pole by 2024.
The report titled NASA’s Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development offers a summary of how the space agency will accomplish the 2024 moon landing mission.
The initial plan is to move to one to two-month stays to learn more about the moon and the universe.
CeNS develops a compact solid-state sensor to detect the heavy metal ions in water
The Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) has developed a compact solid-state sensor to detect the heavy metal ions in water.
It is a portable device which can help onsite detection in remote areas.
Heavy metal ions such as lead, mercury and cadmium pose severe potential threats to living beings as they can easily be accumulated in the body and cannot be detoxified by any chemical or biological processes.
The health hazards associated with heavy metal ions in water demands the development of efficient and portable sensors for rapid onsite detection of these ions.
NATIONAL
NHAI achieves highest ever construction of National Highways in FY 2019-20
National Highway Authority of India, NHAI has achieved the highest ever construction of National Highways in financial year 2019-20.
It has accomplished construction of 3979 kilometre of national highways and this is the highest ever highway construction achieved in a financial year by NHAI.
The authority said, in 2018-19, NHAI had constructed 3380 Kilometre.
Ministry of Tourism launches its “DekhoApnaDesh” webinar series
The Ministry of Tourism has launched its “DekhoApnaDesh” webinar series.
The series have been started to provide information on the many destinations and the sheer depth and expanse of the culture and heritage of our Incredible India.
The first webinar which is a part of this series that shall unfold, touched upon the long history of Delhi.
The webinar was titled ” City of Cities- Delhi’s Personal Diary’.
The webinar shall be available in public domain soon on the Ministry’s social media handles- IncredibleIndia on Instagram and Facebook.
The next webinar is on the 16th of April from 11 am to 12 noon and shall take visitors to the amazing City of Kolkata.
Fit India, CBSE to organise 1st-ever live fitness sessions for School students
Fit India and CBSE will organise first-ever live fitness sessions for school students in the second phase of lockdown.
Live sessions will commence from 9:30 in morning and students can get access to these live sessions on Facebook and Instagram handles of Fit India Movement and CBSE.
During the programme guidelines of the Ministry of AYUSH to stay healthy will be shared with students.
The live sessions will cover all aspects of children’s fitness from daily workouts to yoga, nutrition to emotional well-being.
HRD Minister reviews National online education platform ‘SWAYAM’
Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ held a detailed review of the National online education platform SWAYAM and the 32 DTH Television Education Channels SWAYAM PRABHA in New Delhi.
In the lockdown condition there has been a tremendous increase in demand and the usage of SWAYAM Courses and SWAYAM PRABHA videos.
The Ministry in a statement said that 1902 courses are available currently in SWAYAM, which have been offered to 1.56 crore students since launch.
It was decided that all the 1900 SWAYAM Courses and 60 thousand SWAYAM PRABHA videos would be translated into ten regional languages and made available to the students so that more benefits can be derived from the same.
On SWAYAM PRABHA, the Ministry said that it is a group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting high-quality educational programmes on 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.
Cauvery Water Management Authority brought under Jal Shakti Ministry
The Centre has officially brought the Cauvery Water Management Authority under the Jal Shakti Ministry.
The officials said the CWMA was earlier under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
However, with the Modi government forming the Jal Shakti Ministry to deal with water-related issues, the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has taken the form of a department under it.
Water management authorities of other rivers too have been brought under the Jal Shakti Ministry as they were also under the erstwhile Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
In 2018, the Centre constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to address the dispute over sharing of river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
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